Liontamer Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Remixer Name - Gario Real Name - Greg Nourse E-mail address - Clay_nourse@yahoo.com Website - (None) Forum User ID - 22898 Game Arranged - Megaman 3 Song Arranged - Sparkman Composer - Yasuaki Fujita (Bunbun) Source - Arrangement - Arrangement Name - Megavolt! Comments... This is my second take on this theme (I submitted my first over a year ago - it wasn't even evaluated further. I knew it sucked, though, so I'm alright with it). I know that the Megaman series is one of the most overly remixed series on this site (second to none other than the Final Fantasy series), but I've always been bugged that there's no rendition of Sparkman's theme on here (JD Harding took his version off some time ago). It's a great source (in fact, one of my personal favorites on the game), so I figured I'd give it a fair shot. This is not only a remix for this site, though. It is also the tool that I've used for the past five months to refine my production techniques greatly. Five months seem like a long time, but I was virtually starting from scratch so this is quite the jump for me. The production has been extremely refined, and I figure that if it can get through the harsh process known as Judging then it'll be a sign of how far I've gotten. The samples are weak, but that's because I wanted to see exactly how far I could take the samples that come out of the box of Reason 3.0, and I'm reasonably satisfied with them. Onto the remix itself, It's a pretty straightforward electronic/hard techno mix. The beginning material (0:00 - 0:31) is more or less an ambient introduction that comes before the real beginning of the piece. I've been told (by Liontamer, no less) that it doesn't really hold up to the rest of the mix, but that wasn't my intention, either. I was hoping that the listeners would feel that 0:31 on would be the real beginning of the piece, preceeded by some cool effects that set up the 'electrifying' mood; the end also ties into the beginning a bit in it's light mood, so it gives the song some sense of framing, as well. I'm not going to lie, this mix is very straightforward and in-your-face; I wasn't going for any subtlety at all. I've been told that it is a very 'High Energy' mix by some... I don't think the pun was intended, but it sure does fit! Enjoy! ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.zophar.net/download_file/14304 - Track 8 ("Sparkman Stage") Intro was a little weak, but I liked the melodic lead at :31 and the airy quality of the production on it. :54 was a bit flimsy with the spartan beats. Same at 1:17 & 1:28, the percussion was extremely simplistic/boring and left the textures empty. The percussion needed to properly drive the song along. Lead at 1:34 could be perceived as a bit whiny, but I liked it. Thought the beats were still plain jane, the overall arrangement was at least an interesting take. melodically, it could have stood to be more interpretive, but then after the first iteration, there were some changes that showed some decent interpretation. 3:11-3:34 got super crowded and could have been separated a bit more while still retaining the dense feel you went for. Honestly, I thought this was pretty decent for what it was. The synth design was a little vanilla, and the arrangement was a bit conservative for the genre and didn't set the world on fire, but it got things done where I'm basically OK with that. What really held back the whole package from clicking was the simplistic percussion patterns. You spice 'em up, it'll be fully clicking, IMO. Good potential here, Greg; see if you can pick the ball back up. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Some of the detours taken in this were pretty cool, and I like the way you introduced the main melody. It was not that adventurous an arrangement, but a solid one. Would have liked to hear the B-section in there somewhere since it's my favorite part of the song (if it was in there, I missed it), but the plays on the intro were written well. I thought the production wasn't strong. The percussion is definitely not getting it done because the samples are weak, like you pointed out. In the 0:31 section and after when you switch to a breakbeat rhythm, the snare sounds thin. Even in the straighter 4/4 sections, the kick makes up some of the power but the clap is still thin. With a beat that clicks, the repetitiveness isn't as big a deal, but some additional percussion layers might help on that front, if you can work them in. The synths take up too much of the room, and sections like 0:31 and 3:11 are way too busy, you can barely hear the drums. I think you need to spend more time on the EQ and levels, comparing to some other songs in the same style. I like the ideas but not really the execution, sorry. Your Lux Aeterna song with diotrans sounded a lot more balanced production-wise so I know you can do better than this. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anosou Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I'll keep it short because a lot has been said. Arrangement is a bit simple but works. It does drag a bit because of lack of variation in the backing parts and the weak percussion. Production was a bit on the crowded side, really try to carefully balance the different elements to get the important ones up front. Even the gating gets a bit grating after a while, vary stuff up! Overall it shows a lot of promise but needs some more polish before it's solid. Keep it up! NO(resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts